-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Titleholders Inter Milan relieved the pressure on under-fire manager Rafael Benitez by qualifying for the knockout stages of the Champions League along with Group A rivals Tottenham on Wednesday night .

The Italian champions scraped a 1-0 win at home to Dutch league winners Twente to go through to the last 16 ahead of the final round of matches on December 7 .

Veteran Argentine midfielder Esteban Cambiasso scored the winner in the 55th minute after Wesley Sneijder 's free-kick hit the defensive wall .

The Dutch midfielder had earlier hit the woodwork from a similar situation and missed an early chance from close range for injury-hit Inter .

Third-placed Twente hit the crossbar through second-half substitute Denny Landzaat in the 75th minute , but now face a drop into the second-tier Europa League .

England 's Tottenham , playing in Europe 's top club competition for the first time , remained top of the table after crushing Werder Bremen 3-0 .

The German club next host Inter in their final match , having only two points from five matches -- three behind Twente with a worse goal difference , meaning their European season is effectively over .

Tottenham went ahead in the sixth minute when defender Younes Kaboul followed up his match-winning goal from Saturday 's London derby against Arsenal to volley in a right-wing cross from winger Aaron Lennon .

Croatia midfielder Luka Modric made it 2-0 in the first minute of first-half injury-time as he calmly poked in a volley after striker Peter Crouch headed down a cross from fullback Alan Hutton .

Gareth Bale hit the bar with a free-kick five minutes after the break , but had a penalty saved by goalkeeper Tim Wiese soon after when Modric was fouled by Felix Kroos .

However , Crouch sealed victory with 11 minutes to play as he converted Lennon 's low cross after Bale 's floated center hit the top of the bar .

Barcelona qualified from Group D with a 3-0 victory away to Panathinaikos , which eliminated the Greek side .

Winger Pedro scored twice while Leo Messi continued his sensational scoring run to give the Catalan club an unassailable 11 points from five games .

Daniel Alves set Pedro free for the 27th-minute opener , firing in a low shot , then the Brazil fullback charged forward to start a super move that ended in Messi converting Adriano 's cross in the 63rd minute .

Six minutes later , Alves and Andres Iniesta combined to give Pedro a simple second goal .

The Spanish champions finished top following Rubin Kazan 's earlier 1-0 win at home to second-placed Copenhagen , which left the Russians just a point behind the Danes ahead of their trip to Barca 's Nou Camp next month .

Christian Noboa 's penalty in first-half injury-time gave Rubin a first home win in the competition in six attempts .

The club 's captain scored after Bebras Natcho 's free-kick was handled by veteran winger Jesper Gronkjaer , and his side held on for victory after Copenhagen 's Dame N'Doye hit the crossbar and goalkeeper Sergei Ryzhikov denied substitute Kenneth Zohore in time added on .

Manchester United qualified from Group C with a 1-0 win away to Scottish side Rangers , as Wayne Rooney scored the winner in his first start since early October .

The England striker netted an 87th-minute penalty after Brazilian defender Fabio da Silva was fouled by Steven Naismith .

It was Rooney 's second match in four days , having come on as a substitute on Saturday following an ankle injury and the controversy over whether he would stay at the English club which ended in him signing a new five-year contract .

Third-placed Rangers will now drop into the Europa League regardless of the result of their final match against Bursaspor .

The Turkish club will finish bottom following the 6-1 thrashing at Valencia , who need to beat United to finish top .

The Spanish side , however , are guaranteed a place in the second round following a four-goal first-half blitz at the Mestalla .

Juan Mata 's 17th-minute penalty was followed by the first of striker Roberto Soldado 's two goals , then fellow striker Aritz Aduriz netted at the near post at the second attempt and winger Joaquin whipped a deflected effort into the top corner .

Soldado rounded the keeper and fired into the roof of the net 10 minutes after halftime before Pablo Batalla converted a low cross at the far post , then Alejandro Dominguez wrapped up Valencia 's win with 12 minutes left .

French club Lyon went through for the eight successive year despite losing 3-0 at Schalke , who also qualified from Group B .

The German side led 2-0 inside the first 20 minutes through Peruvian midfielder Jefferson Farfan and Dutch striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar , who capped victory with his second goal with a minute to play .

Veteran Spanish striker Raul set up Farfan with a deflected pass after pouncing on an attempted clearance by Pape Diakhate , then Peer Kluge 's cross provided Huntelaar with the second .

Lyon had key midfielder Yoann Gourcuff stretchered off with an ankle injury in the second half , then Huntelaar 's late deflected effort gave Schalke a perfect home record and put his side a point clear ahead of the December 7 trip to Portugal .

Schalke will face a Benfica side who surprisingly crashed 3-0 at bottom club Hapoel Tel Aviv .

The Israelis picked up their first victory to leave Benfica three points behind Lyon , as attacking midfielder Eran Zahavi scored in each half either side of defender Douglas da Silva 's 74th-minute goal from a corner .

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Tottenham and Inter Milan qualify for knockout stages of Champions League

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Barcelona go through from Group D after eliminating Panathinaikos with 3-0 win

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Manchester United and Valencia seal last-16 places with Group C victories

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Lyon progress from Group B despite 3-0 defeat at Schalke , who also qualify